The inspired threesome consisted of The Heavenly Tones of Brooklyn, N.Y., The Bells of Joy of Hamden and Hartford's own scintillating Gospel Stars.

An a cappella group, the Tones represented an early form of gospel, with its pure vocal harmonies forming the foundation for the lead singer. There were no guitars, no bass guitars, no drums -- just the unplugged sound of six earnest, middle-aged, meticuloulsy garbed men in suits and ties.

Although they looked as if they were on their way to a business meeting, the sextet generated more rhythmic juice than many a hot looking rock band.

You're not likely to hear songs such as "Everything Is Moving in the Power of God" on the Top-40 or on MTV. But the Tones showed how to heat up material like this with their irrepressible rhythmic intensity.

Using background riffs and snappy call and response patterns, the Tones created a trainlike, trancelike force. Sam Bryant, a lead singer, accented the jubilee spirit with his boisterous singing and preaching.

If you're looking for the roots of pop pizazz, it has long resided in the black church, the inspiration for all three groups at the center, the city's sanctuary for multicultural expression.

After the resonating Tones, came the tolling Bells.

The Bells are a modern group equipped with drums, bass guitar and two guitars in the rhythm section, which backed five singers upfront led by Deacon James Bell.

The sound of the Bells pealed with joy, particularly on foot-stomping, hand-clapping numbers such as "I'm Looking for My Jesus."

As good as the Tones and Bells were, they were outshone by the Stars. The vibrant local group was directed by the silver-haired, 72-year-old gospel patriarch, Leonard Ledbetter, deacon of Welcome

Baptist Church.

In their own sanctified way, the Stars got their music rocking and rolling as its rhythm section played hot licks behind the jubilant frontline singers.

Helen Franklin was the formidable lead female singer and John Ross was her capable male foil.

Also notable was Jerry Latimer, a drummer and vocalist with a stratospheric range that reached the dizzying heights of Little Jimmy Scott.

Latimer raised the center's rafters and many listeners' spirits more than a notch or two with a soaring solo.

Gospel music seemed very much at home in the ecumenical ambience of the Charter Oak Cultural Center's building, a venerable, 19th-century landmark that was first a synagogue and later a Baptist church.